ABC Family working on McMillen movie

ABC Family is working on a made-for-TV movie about the quest of former Itawamba AHS student Constance McMillen to attend prom with her girlfriend.
“We are thrilled that ABC Family is taking on this important project,” said Christine P. Sun, one of the lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union who represented McMillen in her lawsuit against the Itawamba County School District.
“Constance’s story has inspired countless others to fight anti-gay discrimination. Her message of personal triumph is all the more essential in light of the rash of tragic suicides by youth who have been victims of anti-gay bullying.”
The movie is “in the early stages of development” at ABC Family, said Diane Morgan, the company’s vice president of media relations.
Morgan said that producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and Sony Pictures TV had optioned the rights to McMillen’s story and that John Gray would write the script and is expected to direct.
“I think it is important to highlight the struggle Constance had in dealing with her school district as a gay student,” said Kristy Bennett, another lawyer who represented McMillen.
When McMillen challenged her school’s policy prohibiting same-sex prom dates last spring, the district canceled the school’s prom.
A private prom was held and McMillen attended, but she later contended that the event was a “sham” and that most of her classmates attended a separate unpublicized event.
McMillen sued the district and received a $35,000 settlement.
McMillen did not return a call seeking comment about the movie.